Canadian Brit lawyer - send help
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:47 pm
Hey y'all. My story is a fairly unique one so I'm hoping someone can help.
The quick rundown is that I was born in Canada to a Canadian father and British mother and moved to the UK at age 10. As a result, I have dual citizenship (Canadian and British passports). I attended law school in England and got my LLB. After I graduated in 2012, I moved to Jackson, MS to work in Capital Defense (internship). After 6 months of this, I took a job as a mitigation specialist for the Georgia Capital Defender's office. I've been doing this for 3 years now. I have signed up to take the NY bar in February 2016. I currently work here using my Canadian passport and am classed as a TN1. My visa is theoretically renewable indefinitely - I have renewed once and have 2.5 years left on my current one until I have to cross borders and renew.
My question relates to my options for qualifying in other states. Given that I live in GA, it would obviously be of more help to me to be able to qualify here, however I'm not eligible to sit the bar here as my LLB is from a foreign law school. If I pass the bar in February in NY, is that enough to be able to waive into GA? Do I need to practice in NY for a certain length of time before I can waive? If I can't waive would I at least be eligible to sit the GA bar if I have passed a bar exam in another state? Are there any states that, with my experience and qualifications combined (after passing NY bar), I could waive into?
I also wondered, on a separate note, if anyone has any idea on ways to get a greencard given my current line of work and my total lack of desire to ever get married - especially for a greencard?
Any light y'all could shed would be most appreciated.
Rachael
The quick rundown is that I was born in Canada to a Canadian father and British mother and moved to the UK at age 10. As a result, I have dual citizenship (Canadian and British passports). I attended law school in England and got my LLB. After I graduated in 2012, I moved to Jackson, MS to work in Capital Defense (internship). After 6 months of this, I took a job as a mitigation specialist for the Georgia Capital Defender's office. I've been doing this for 3 years now. I have signed up to take the NY bar in February 2016. I currently work here using my Canadian passport and am classed as a TN1. My visa is theoretically renewable indefinitely - I have renewed once and have 2.5 years left on my current one until I have to cross borders and renew.
My question relates to my options for qualifying in other states. Given that I live in GA, it would obviously be of more help to me to be able to qualify here, however I'm not eligible to sit the bar here as my LLB is from a foreign law school. If I pass the bar in February in NY, is that enough to be able to waive into GA? Do I need to practice in NY for a certain length of time before I can waive? If I can't waive would I at least be eligible to sit the GA bar if I have passed a bar exam in another state? Are there any states that, with my experience and qualifications combined (after passing NY bar), I could waive into?
I also wondered, on a separate note, if anyone has any idea on ways to get a greencard given my current line of work and my total lack of desire to ever get married - especially for a greencard?
Any light y'all could shed would be most appreciated.
Rachael